Weekend in Review: Lots of Sports!

Our long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was great and filled with lots of sports. It started off Saturday morning with an Itty Bitty Golf Tournament put on by Phoenix Parks and the Junior Golf Association of Arizona. Teddy actually got a golf set for Christmas and Ev liked playing with it too so they were pretty excited. It was cute and they tried to teach the kids about the sport of golf but their attention span is still short, haha. It was a bit cold for Cam and Aspen to really enjoy it but we got to take the clubs home so they can play more whenever they want. They also got free snacks afterwards too which was nice because I feel like Everly is ALWAYS hungry now. After the golf tournament I headed out for 2 of my 3 soccer games for the weekend. On Saturday night we went to my sister-in-law's house to watch the Cardinals game. It was a very exciting and eventful game and she made yummy shredded beef so it was a fun night. On Sunday morning I had my last soccer game because we did not move on through the tournament. It was good exercise though and I got Monday off so I wasn't to mad about it. On Sunday night I took my first restorative yoga class and it was really good but intense. You hold the seated poses for 3-5 minutes and I think my body needed that. On Monday morning I slept in a little but still got in a 10k and 45 minutes of lifting at the gym. It was nice to take my time and not have to rush. We also got a lot of cleaning done on Monday which always makes me feel better. I was even able to sneak in a hot yoga class last night. Usually we plan something for the kids on our day off so it was nice to just take that extra day off and do what I wanted to. Looking forward to the short work week.

Go Cards!

Of course we saw the Nebraska fans at the Cards game.

 

Saw a coyote during my run Monday!

Frozen on Ice

For Christmas my mom got the kids tickets to Disney on Ice presents Frozen and the show was last night. We have seen a handful of Disney on Ice shows now and this was even Aspen's second show but we had been waiting for Frozen to come. I thought it was a really good show despite the fact that Aspen didn't want to sit in a seat (two big teeth coming in). The boys both did really good as well which is no surprise because they love Frozen. Also, they were treated with pretzels and popcorn and Teddy got a buzz lightyear which he loved and Aspen wasn't allowed to touch, haha. Everly really enjoyed it too and said Elsa and the snow was her favorite part. I am not used to being out on weeknights so I was super tired by the end of the night but they had fun! Here are a few pictures and a little video of the night.

Frozen shirts we already had ready for the girls.

Sometimes they are just the sweetest and this night was it. Both boys were giving me hugs and kisses.

 

 

iphone Repair

Last month while on a hike I dropped my iphone straight down on a rock and cracked the corner of the screen. I did not have a case on it because it fits better in my waist belt without the case but normally I have an OtterBox on it. I was bummed but lucky the crack was only in the corner and when I put my case back on you could barely see it. I knew I would fix it eventually so I could trade it in when I get a new phone next fall but wasn't in a super rush. Then a week or two later, I was tossing Justin's phone onto the table behind our couch and it just slid right off and onto our tile floor. The ENTIRE front shattered. I felt like an idiot and I felt even worse because I had now shattered two iphone screens. I told him I would fix it but then as the weeks passed I was having trouble finding the time to take it and get it done. I have like zero extra time during the week and the last thing I want to do on the weekend is wait around for my phone to get fixed. Luckily, we were recommended to go to Mobile Matrix Repair because the owner used to work with my brother-in-law. I should have gone sooner. Zack was super nice and fast with both phones. No, it is not cheap, but it is cheaper than filing an insurance claim on your phone and definitely cheaper than a new phone. Unfortunately, these parts are expensive, but to help prevent this from happening again, Zack put tempered glass screen protectors on both of our phones so we should be set! Also, he does fix other phone brands and tablets as well if you need to fix one of those and is located in the Fry's parking lot at 59th Avenue and the 101. Here is our before and after:

Justin's on the left and my little crack on the right.

New screen and screen protector!

Aspen's Ear Surgery Update

It has now been 2 weeks since Aspen had her ear surgery. Yesterday she had her follow up visit with the ENT Specialist/surgeon. Justin picked up Aspen and then they picked up Everly and headed to the appointment. The doctor said her infection has cleared up and everything looks good. In these past two weeks she has clearly started hearing better. She is making more sounds and trying to say new words. She will now pretty much try to say anything we ask her to. She always says "kitty" when she sees Oscar and sometimes says "meow" too. She yells mama and papa all the time and loves to make noises when she plays with her cars. Before the surgery, we knew Aspen was more quiet then her sister but now after having it, we know she was not hearing well. Hopefully we caught it soon enough and her speech continues to develop. While surgery is never an easy decision, especially for kids, I am so glad we made the decision to have tubes put in her ears.

 

 

we love our squishy Aspen!

Weekend in Review

Another busy weekend for us! Of course it started with a run for me early Saturday morning. I was a little worried since I tweaked my knee last weekend but I ran through it and I was really proud of myself for finishing it. We don't have a long run scheduled for this weekend since we have a soccer tournament so I am looking forward to the break (and my knee is too). While I was running my mom and sisters took Everly to the Playoff Fan Central since we have the College Football Championship in AZ tonight. They had gone to the NFL one last year when we had the super bowl and had a lot of fun. I wanted to go too but I am glad they could take Everly since I had to run. After that we met my sister at a birthday party out at Makutus Island. It is a wacky little place but the kids loved it. Everly insited on doing the bungee rope jumping trampoline thing so I let her. She had fun but could use more practice, haha. I could have used a nap after that morning! We stayed at home Saturday night and then slept in Sunday morning! We got some cleaning and shopping done and then I got in another hot yoga class which I am hoping will help me recover faster from my long runs! Hoping this week goes by fast because then I have a 3-day weekend!

 

Pre and Post run.

Making sure we stretch this time!

 

Thanks for taking her with you guys!

Had to bungee jump!

 

Sunday Morning Brekkie!

Toddler Talk

Unrelated photo of Ev with her American Girl doll in matching jammies.

Apparently it has been a year since I posted one of these. You can see old ones here. Everly has been saying funny things for a year, don't worry, I guess I just got occupied with the 2nd child and wasn't documenting them enough. Anyways, there were a couple of funny things she said recently that I made a point to document so enjoy:

-While I was trying on bras at Victoria's Secret last week she commented on the different bras as "gorgeous."

-While in the backseat of my car, she referred to her sister as "mamacita."

-While napping on the top bunk of her bed I woke her up and she said:

E: I was pretending I was at church. (Points to a Stich (Lilo & Stitch) figurine). This is Joseph and I am Mary.

Me: Where is baby Jesus?

E: In my belly.

-While holding my hand and walking in to school Monday morning:

E: This is fun. (Not funny but super cute/sweet).

So this is the New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe New Years. I am not really ready to be back at work with a full week ahead but such is life (thankfully I get MLK day off in 2 weeks). It was fun to have my carpool buddy back with me again this morning. She did pretty good too considered she has been off from preschool for 2 weeks. She was excited to pick out what to put in her lunch so I am like, hey, whatever you want! I think we were in bed by 10:30 on New Years Eve. I'm not even sad about it. I like to sleep. The kids had fun and when I brought Everly into school this morning she was telling her teachers all about  the balloons that my sister had for the kids on our fake "midnight." There is a little video below of the night which included kids games, scrabble for adults, sparkling grape juice, and some little firework snappers. On New Years morning I slept in until 7 AM !!! We took the girls to the zoo in the morning, put away Christmas decorations, and then went bowling at night. I can't believe the holidays are already over! I ate too much but had a lot of fun and hope the girls did too.

Mae approved of the sparkling grape juice and lots of New Years swag.

Papa and Aspen and scrabble. I killed it in scrabble but then Alex killed everyone in bowling the next day so its all fair.

 

The NYE video:

 

sleeping baby fox and the carousel Aspen was not into

baboon eating a corn on the cob

 

The mantle has been de-christmasified but I have a new lantern and picture of the girls so I am happy.



 

toddler bowling shoes are the cutest!

New Years Eve 2015 and Goals for 2016

 

Happy New Years Eve! I hope everyone has a safe and fun NYE. We are laying low this year and just going to my sisters house so the kids can play. 2015 was a great year. We welcomed a new niece (here) I made my first trip to the Grand Canyon (here), baby Aspen turned 1 (here), and Justin and I celebrated our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary with a trip to Portland, OR (here) among many other fun things throughout the year. I didn't have any serious written in stone goals for 2015 but one thing I did want to get done and finally accomplished was getting confirmed in the Catholic Church (here). It was something I had wanted to do for a couple years and was finally able to make happen thanks to the support of my husband while I took the classes. I also breastfed Aspen until she was 13 months old which was another huge accomplishment for me. Whether or not you agree with New Years resolutions, I think it is great to set goals for yourself and it works for me. For health and fitness I have a couple of goals. I would like to get back into logging my food and start tracking my macros to be better about my nutrition. I have been consistent with my activity so I am not worried about that but I am excited to see where this could take me. I am also signed up to run my first full marathon on February 14th and am currently in the middle of training. Running a marathon in itself is a big deal (to me) so if I do nothing else in 2016, if I complete that I will still be a badass. In my personal/professional goals I would like to continue to read more and watch less TV (but lets be honest I am not super committed to that one. I would also like to pursue a professional designation. I did certified in Grant Management in 2014 but didn't add anything in 2015 so I would at least like to get started on that in 2016. I am interested in becoming a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Government Auditing Professional, and a Certified Fraud Examiner so we will see! For my family/relationship goals, I always want to strive to do better at communicating with my husband. We are not horrible, but we could be better. I would also like to read more with my girls. While I was nursing Aspen I got in the habit of having Justin do all of the reading and I really need to put my phone down more and read more with them.

We have some exciting things planned for 2016 but the biggest is probably our family reunion with my mom's side of the family in July. I will also be turning the big 3-0 at that time so I really have to nail down what I want to do for that. I keep going back and forth between some sort of hiking trip and some sort of beer/wine trip, haha! And of course, I can't forget to include that we are expecting another baby niece this spring!

Happy New Years from The Larkins!